Utahn salutes Afghan voters

Critics may call Afghanistan's historic election a sham, but Ty Berger says he knows the truth.

He saw the faces of the thousands of people lining up to finally use their freedom to choose.

"I was so excited to be able to do this thing," one man told Berger, who is a detective at the Davis County Sheriff's Office. "Never before have we done this. We are grateful to all of you (soldiers) who made this possible for us."

Today, Master Sgt. Berger, a reservist with the 2nd Battalion in the 414th Regiment of the 104th Division stationed at Fort Douglas, proudly walks down the streets of Afghanistan.

Assigned to guard polling stations during the recent elections, he spent the past three days asking locals their feelings about the election. One by one, each said they were excited about exercising their right to vote for the first time.

"The mood and feeling on the streets today was one of joy and elation," Berger wrote in an e-mail interview with the Deseret Morning News. "It's the first time of me being here I felt I could walk down the street and be seen."

In the days leading up to the historic election, Berger watched the anticipation and excitement on the faces of the women who registered to vote.

He also trained for any outcome, good or bad.

"We will measure our success in the following days with the outcome of the elections, which is yet to be seen," Berger wrote days before the election. "So, for now, we plan and train for the worst and pray it will not happen."

Soon after Berger landed in Kabul, military officials learned about his 18 years of law enforcement experience. He was assigned to do police work. He works with the Afghanistan National Police and evaluates their work. He said the Afghans have a lot to learn.

The government created a program last year to start a 50,000-member police force. Getting the people to support the police will be tough, Berger said, because they are not used to a governed system. All they know is terror.

Afghan police will wear blue uniforms to set them apart from any military, including the Army, militias and other fighting forces, Berger said. He said the people fear military clothing.

"The police and their duties are relatively new in our concepts here," said Berger, who is about two months into his nine-month stint in Afghanistan. "For so many years, this country and the people here have only known war and terror."

He said justice in Afghanistan is in dire need of reform.

The roads and highways are a mess, and there are no traffic laws to enforce. Drivers share the roads with pedestrians, bicyclists and donkeys pulling carts.